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HITCHINBROOKE
INSTITUT DORÉA
(Dorea Institute)(Dorea Asylum)
1148 Chem. De Covey Hill #11
Status: Former Mental Asylum and Orphanage; Abandoned; Partially Demolished
While not graphic this article contains stories of children being abused. Reader discretion is advised.
History
We found it impossible get an exact date for the construction of this facility – it appears to have been sometime in the 1940’s.
For most of it’s existence it was part of a scam run by the Quebec government and the Catholic Church as a fraud to get money from the Federal Government of Canada. It – as well as other asylums constructed - housed what have become known as the Duplessia Orphans (any internet search of this term will yield mountains of information).
This institution is part of one of the darkest chapters in both Quebec and Canadian history as well as yet another dark chapter in the history of the Catholic Church.
Many children whose parents had died or who could be seized by the government from single mothers unable to defend themselves who were declared mentally ill when they were, in truth, perfectly healthy were sent here. This was done because the Canadian Government would give funds for their upkeep.
There are also stories of this facility being run as a Residential School for Indigenous children on top of all the other horrors.
This institution – along with others of the same kind – were created to house the illegally seized children. Rather than being cared for they were abused sexually, emotionally and physically by the Priests who were supposed to be caring for them.
They were raped and subjected to horrible treatments including lobotomies, electro-shock therapy, cold water therapy etc. Remember these were perfectly healthy normal children until the were all but kidnapped.
There are even rumours of human experimentation done on the children.
The facility was shut down when the duplicity of the Church and Quebec Government was discovered in the 1960’s.
It then became housing and a treatment centre for developmentally disabled adults.
There were/are numerous lawsuits by the survivors of this house of horrors.
In the 1990’s the entire facility was shut down and left abandoned.
In 2018 demolition of the site began which has destroyed most of the buildings. As of January 2022, the main building was still standing; it is unclear if this is still true; it certainly won’t be standing much longer if it still is.
Paranormal Activity
There is no catalogue of the paranormal activity at this site but what follows is a list created by numerous reports dating back to the 1970’s.
Apparitions of children thought to be former prisoners here; shadow figures, some of which will approach the living; an overpowering sense of great evil and darkness hangs over the site; disembodied voices; phantom screams, crying and anguish – many of which tell of children in obvious great pain and suffering; doors opening and closing on their own; cold and warm spots; touches, tugs and pulls by unseen entities; bangs, crashes and other unexplained noises; phantom sounds of heavy breathing; objects moving on their own; electrical disturbances; videos (tape and digital) taken on site frequently are blurred in places with no explanation; heat signatures where there is no one visible; light anomalies; unexplained mists and feelings of being watched and not being wanted.
Most of all this is psychic scar here upon the land and very air left from the terrible suffering that was endured by those most innocent and vulnerable.
SAINTE-CLOTILDE-DE-HORTON
Ancien Asile de Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton
2373 Rang De La Riviere De L’Est
Status: Former Monastery; Former School; Former Asylum; Abandoned and Fenced In; Private Property.
History
In 1939 the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart purchased this land from a farmer and built a monastery here this is the same building that is on the property now.
In 1953 the building and property were sold to the Brothers of the Christian Instruction who opened up a boy’s school. In the main hall their slogan "Ad Sinite parvulos venire Me" – “Let the children come to me” – can still be seen.
On December 25, 1959 a fire was started – purportedly by three boys smoking – which resulted in the deaths of three boys. Most stories say it was the same ones who were smoking.
The school is then thought to have been closed – probably related to the deaths – but there is no record for this location between 1959 and 1969. In 1969 the building was bought by the Quebec Provincial Government and turned into a care facility for the developmentally disabled.
Given the time line procedures such as lobotomies, insulin shock, cold water therapy and electro-shock therapy would have been commonplace and accepted treatments.
In 1988 on January 23 at about 10 pm another fire was started in the building. Apparently, an employee had had a lighter stolen and it was used to start a mattress on fire. Legend says some patients jumped from the 4th floor to escape the flames; history records that nine patients died in the fire.
The care facility was shut down shortly thereafter and sold to the Seventh Day Adventist Church for conversion into a camp. The camp was never completed due to financial reasons.
The property was abandoned in 2002 and remains so.
The property has gone through a few owners since then who have tried to convert into something financially feasible but none have succeeded. The municipality got a court order to fence off the property off when a past owner tried to create a Halloween event here.
From time to time owners have allowed paranormal investigators on the property for a price but it is unclear whether that is currently true.
As of 2020 the property was once again for sale for 2.8 million dollars. Despite this there is a rumour that the building will be demolished in 2023; although that would seem to be up to the new owner.
Paranormal Activity
This location, without a doubt, is one of the paranormally active places in Quebec. Numerous investigations have been done here.
There are three commonly reported ghosts at this location:
1) A young girl of about 3 or 4 who is usually seen wandering in the woods surrounding the property.
2) Another girl of about 9 or 10 that has given her name as “Emilie” to investigators. She is said to be quite friendly with investigators and numerous EVPs of her have been captured.
3) A young boy – said to be one of the original victims of the 1958 fire – named “James” who is most frequently seen and/or communicated with in the old locker room.
Other Activity: apparitions of monks and former asylum patients; phantom smell of smoke; breathing issues as if smoke were still present or tightness of the throat; shadow figures; disembodied voices; objects moving on their own; touches, tugs and pulls by unseen entities; electrical disturbances; light anomalies; hot and cold spots; unexplained mists and the feeling of not being alone.